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TG Charges Blatant Transgender Discrimination In US Job

By Angela Fox Bridgman
Who would have ever thought that an agency of the United States Federal Government would engage in blatant discrimination? Certainly, I did not think so. However, sadly, that is the case. The U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census was my employer, from November 17, 1997 until February 17, 1998. I worked at their facility in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

In January, 1998, several employees filed false and misleading allegations in reference to my conduct in the workplace. I was charged with, among other things, conduct which was not in line with common decency or morality, including the use of obscene or offensive language, sexual harassment, and, taking reprisal action against an employee in anticipation of, or in retaliation for filing a grievance or complaint, or other exercise of rights, to quote the actual complaint I received. More simply put, I was accused of making inappropriate remarks about my sexuality, or gender, of sexual harassment, and of stalking a fellow employee. Four employees were quoted in the formal complaint, and the four employees are a clique that have worked together at Census for many years.

These particular employees, and others, since the day I stared working there, referred to me, openly, and amongst themselves as "shim" (thier hybrid of "she" and "him"), as well as "it" and "that thing". On several occasions, these employees also made cruel jokes, to and about me, and also, on more than one occasion, deliberately continued to refer to me in male gender pronouns, despite my numerous requests that they stop. There was much hostility directed at me from these, and other employees.

Other employees were very supportive of me, and often comforted me, and made attempts to correct the others, when they could see that the treatment I was receiving was upsetting me. My superviors, on the other hand, did nothing, and were most likely a part of the above mentioned clique. I also took steps on my own, to try to deal with the situation in an appropriate manner, but, unfortunately, nothing was done about the numerous requests and suggestions I made to allieviate the problems. Initially, I requested, through the Employee Assistance Program, and my immediate supervisors, that some sort of sensitivity training be conducted in my unit, to sensitize my co-workers to the difficulties I was facing as a direct result of their treatment of me.

This request was never acted upon, despite the fact that I requested it often, in fact, almost every week. I also requested to be transferred out of the unit I was working in, as it was a hostile work environment. Again, my requests fell on deaf ears. I also made numerous requests of my immediate supervisors to keep certain people away from me, and to keep me away from certain people, by not assigning me to work in the same area in which they were working. This was a request which could have been easily accomodated, yet, once again, my repeated requests for intervention were ignored. Needless to say, no one in management ever went out of thier way to tell me that we had a union at the Census Bureau, and that they could possibly be of some help.

I responded, truthfully, to the allegations, yet my defense was completely and totally ignored by my immediate supervisors. The signed statements of twelve of my fellow employees were also ignored, in the course of which I am reluctant to call an investigation. Two days after my response was filed to these allegations, the recommendation came back that I be removed from my position at the Census Bureau. There is no way that a thorough, complete, impartial, and unbiased investigation could possibly have been conducted in two days (I mean, we ARE talking Government here....they can't even blow their noses in two days, let alone, conduct a thorough investigation.) Certainly, the "investigation" was not conducted in an impartial, unbiased fashion, as required by law, nor was a thorough investigation conducted. I know for a fact that my response to the allegations was not even read by my immediate supervisors, becuase I had turned three pages of my response upside down, and when my response was given back to me, the same three pages were still upside down! Furthermore, this recommendation taints any possibility of any unbiased investigation taking place by the Personnel unit at the local level.

The Jeffersonville Census Bureau facility was a hostile work environment, and it is impossible, at this time, for an unbiased investigation to be conducted on that level, because my fellow employees are unable to speak the truth freely, without the fear of reprisals from supervisors, and fellow employees. This has been affirmed by my union representative, and by a number of fellow employees. Also, the lack of impartial and unbiased investigation into these false allegations which have been made against me has adversely affected my physical and mental health. For these reasons, I have been compelled to resign my position with the Census Bureau. This is a matter which will have to be investigated from somewhere other than the local level, and that is not possible, as long as you are a Federal employee. The rules require you to go through your local level EEO office, as opposed to taking it to the unbiased outside. There seem to be more options outside this particular workplace, and I am contemplating and considering a number of legal options at this time aimed at obtaining redress for what was done to me, as well as protecting the other transgendered people who work for Census.



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